Television systems typically include integrated circuits or “television chips” that perform various image and audio processing functions. A television chip may include several functional blocks or modules that each perform a corresponding function. Each functional block or module may be associated with one or more control registers that include data used by the module to manage and control the performance of the corresponding function. Based on the settings of these registers, television manufacturers can achieve different image and/or sound quality. Manufacturers of top-tier televisions may invest significant time and resources to determine the best settings for these registers to provide excellent picture quality and/or audio performance. As a result, manufacturers providing these top-tier televisions may have more expertise in tuning these registers and thus achieve a better overall picture quality based on their proprietary register settings. Other television manufacturers do not have similar expertise in fine tuning these registers for optimal picture quality. However, certain manufacturers have been known to obtain top-tier television systems and read the proprietary register settings from the television chips. These manufacturers can then use the settings to program similar television chips that may be used in their own television systems.
For at least these reasons, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for protecting the data stored in the control registers of television chips.